Reversible handle for baby carriage



Sept. 20, 1955 M. D. WELSH 2,718,407

REVERSIBLE HANDLE FOR BABY CARRIAGE Filed sept. 2o, 195o JNVENToR.

MATILDA D. WELSH BY United States Patent REVERSIBLE HANDLE FOR BABYCARRIAGE Matilda D. Welsh, Ladue, Mo.

Application September 20, 1950, Serial No. 185,749

1 Claim. (Cl. 280-47.36)

This invention pertains to a reversible handle for a baby carriage. Manyof such carriages are arranged so that they may be propelled in eitherdirection and it is often convenient to be able to reverse the handlerather than to turn the vehicle around.

1n accordance with this invention, generally stated, the handle iscarried by a pair of handle-bars extending over the sides of the vehiclebody and pivoted to the frame of the carriage near the middle of thebottom of the body. A toggle brace consisting of a pair of pivotedmembers, is pivoted at one end to the handle-bar at a point spaced fromthe lower pivot of the latter. The other end of the toggle brace ispivoted to the upper portion of the body frame preferably at a pointdirectly above the handle-bar pivot. This toggle brace has a springlatch arrangement to retain it in extended position so that it may actas a strut to brace the handle-bar. However, when the toggle is broken,the handle-bar may be swung over to the other end of the body, thetoggle brace pivoting meanwhile at all three of its pivots and beingextended again to its aligned position when the handle has been moved toits new position at the other end of the body.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side view of a babycarriage having a reversible handle embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the toggle brace and its end connections;and

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3, Fig. 2.

As shown in the drawing, the vehicle comprises a body 1 having asuitable frame 1a, and supported on wheels 2. The handle 3 is supportedon a pair of handle-bars 4, only one of which is visible in the drawing.

zThe lower end of the handle-bar 4 is pivoted at 5 to the lower portionof the frame of the body 1 near its middle point, as shown in Fig. 1.Pivoted to said handlebar at 6 is a toggle brace consisting of a lowermember 7 and an upper member 8 pivoted to each other at 9. The upper endof the member 8 is pivoted at 10 to the upper portion of the body frame.

A spring washer 11 is mounted on the pivot pin 9 between its head andthe member 7 and acts to keep the two members 7 and 8 pressed againsteach other. One of these members, as 8, is provided with perforations 12adapted to receive projections or nibs 13 on the other member 7. Theseare positioned so that the projections engage the perforations only whenthe members 7 and 8 are aligned with each other as shown in Fig. 2.

2,718,407 Patented Sept. 20, 1955 When the parts are in the positionshown in Fig. 1 with the handle 3 at the right end of the vehicle, thehandle-bar 4 is rigidly held in the position shown so that the vehiclemay be propelled by pushing on the handle 3. When it is desired toreverse the handle, the toggle is broken at the pivot 9, the projections13 being forced out of the perforations 12. This permits the handle-bar4 to be moved on its pivot 5 toward the pivot 10. The rnember 7 may beoffset, as shown in Fig. 3, so that during such movement the pivot pin 9may pass inside of the handle-bar 4. When said handle-bar has been movedto its limiting position at the other end of the vehicle, as indicatedby dotted lines in Fig. 1, the toggle is again straightened out so thatthe members 7 and 8 are aligned and the projections 13 again engage theperforations 12 to hold this member rigid.

It will be seen, therefore, that the invention provides a simplestructure whereby the handle may be quickly and easily moved from oneend to the other of the vehicle` and the toggle brace serves to providea rigid bracing member therefor in either position. The pivot pin 9 maybe threaded and provided with a thumb nut 14 whereby the tension of thespring 11 may be adjusted.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction, within thescope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of thisinvention. Parts of the invention may be used without the whole andimprovements may be added while retaining some or al1 of the advantagesof the invention.

I claim:

A reversible handle for a baby carriage having a body, comprising, ahandle-bar, a pair of toggle members pivoted to each other, one end ofsaid pair being pivoted to said bar on a fixed pivot at a point spacedfrom its lower end, the lower end of said bar being pivoted to said bodynear the bottom thereof and the other end of said pair being pivoted tosaid body near the top thereof, a recess in one of said members, a nibon the other of said members tting into said recess when said membersare in alignment with each other, a spring on the pivot of said membersreleasable maintaining said nib in said recess, and a manipulatablescrew for adjusting the tension of said spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS765,598 Schlag July 19, 1904 819,131 Ericson May 1, 1906 880,574 RogersMar. 3, 1908 928,584 Butler July 20, 1909 1,188,498 Shrimplin June 27,1916 1,203,430 Stopp et al Oct. 31, 1916 1,226,173 Benjamin May 15, 1917FOREIGN PATENTS 507,493 France June 24, 1920 215,125 Great Britain May8, 1924 74,038 Norway Oct. 4, 1948 115,714 Sweden 1an. 22, 1946

